How to Battle Imposter Syndrome

There is something that is a very common problem that can happen to anyone in any field of work at any given time - Imposter Syndrome

Hello, my name is Holly and I am a Video Editor and Motion Graphics Designer, one of my favourite things to do is stylised edits and have previously created highlight reels for morning television about the Oscars, Baftas and Pride Of Britain. 

According to an article on Executive Development Network (which surveyed 5,000 individuals) half of all UK adults have experienced Imposter syndrome. Both on this article and a lot of other research material online from both the UK and the USA state that females tend to feel this at a higher percentage than men in the workplace.

This doesn’t surprise me. 

I know a lot of people that experience Imposter syndrome within the workplace and most of them are females. 

It wasn’t until I started my career that I realised the job role I was going into was very male dominant. It was only when I started to work at ITV in 2017 that I started to see a balance in the genders. 

Since day one, there were a lot of times when I felt imposter syndrome as I constantly had to prove to people I could do the role. A lot of the time I was stepping into roles that were originally filled by males and whilst I do not believe that these companies were sexist, I think it put a lot of pressure on me to prove myself. 

Whenever I did a graphic I would always have to spend extra time doing a prototype to prove to the directors that I could do the job. I had to fight for my name to be put in credits because people ‘forgot’ about me. This didn’t help the imposter syndrome feeling and sometimes it felt like it was on purpose, you start to doubt your worth. 

One of the biggest times to gain imposter syndrome is when you are given a huge task and you have to figure out how to achieve it. When you first get given the task whether it is a graphic or a video edit, it can be intimidating then you start to question yourself and if you can actually do it.

Of course I can do the task at hand. It is the Imposter Syndrome kicking in - I find that the best way to beat this is to either go for a mini walk to grab a cup of tea or to sleep on it. 

Imposter Syndrome is a terrible feeling and it can leave you constantly questioning yourself, doubting decisions and even not believing in yourself. 

Here are a few tops that helped me combat the feeling:


Music

It may seem silly but walking away from your work, listening to a few songs that motivate you can really pump you up and get refocussed and believe in yourself! I used to do this when I performed improv and listened to Panic! At The Disco before shows and it used to help me get energised. 


Previous Work

Looking at previous work can really help as you remember that you CAN do the jon in front of you and remember that you had the same feeling before this past project.


Talk To Someone

This is highly underrated and it can really help just to talk to someone, even if they have no knowledge of your job, just lending an ear can be really beneficial. 


Imposter syndrome is such a hard thing to deal with but remember that you are not the only one going through it and you are not alone. 

Holly Bartolo is a video editor and motion graphic designer based in Scotland, remote and able to travel to other parts of the UK. If you want to find out more then please click here.